PerreaultForever

Years of bad hockey have led to way too much instant negativity on this board. The Sabres played well and for the most part outplayed a team that many consider a possible cup finalist. If we had a decent power play we would have blown them out of the rink so the sky is far from falling. Once Mittlestadt and Dahlin fully mature we will have that. It won't be that far away. The blueprint is just fine. Fun and exciting to watch for now, a playoff team next season and a true cup contender in another year after that. So much better than last year..........and the year before that.............and.........

Might be worth rotating guys there to see who clicks best for now. try an off wing even. Got to be someone fast though, not Okposo. ERod. Sheary, Pommer, Tage are the guys to keep trying.

See now you're being sarcastic right, cause nobody I know believed that Russia line, did you? I don't disagree with this at all, but for me it's a public/private thing. Like publicly Gretzky always gave credit to his linemates even when he was clearly the guy who made the play but I am also sure behind closed doors he probably said other things and not always positive. San broke the code so to speak but if the team bonds over it or even just moves on with no damage that IS A GOOD THING because it means there is a better bond this year and a better team feeling. Time will tell, for the moment it looks positive.

Yes. We need two scoring lines and although the top line is a little less for now with Pommers, Mittlestadt is a lot better with Sam. makes us harder to defend and spreads things around a bit. I've said it before, we are only a couple wingers away from being a good hockey team. Imagine how good we would be right now if Nylander was actually any good and maybe Bailey or someone else had been better. We will likely not make the playoffs this year but we are much closer than we were this time last year.

Oh come on, you don't actually believe that for/from thing do you? That's just spin. Good to see the team was all over that quickly, that's a good sign, but it was a gaff and it shouldn't have been said. Damage, if there was any, seems to be repaired so no big deal, but the spin is kind of silly imo. Better would be to make sure his opening comment after the Detroit game was to lead with Ullmark played great tonight and I was happy we scored enough to win, or something like that. Did he do that?

Doesn't matter if he meant that, or this is just the reworking mea culpa management told him to get ahead of, the point is what he did was flat out wrong. regardless of the truth in sports or what you personally believe is the truth, you never throw others under the bus publicly. All media answers have to be "we" or "I" have to do better etc. This comment was a mistake. Whether it will be forgotten or damage team chemistry, who knows? Probably much ado about nothing.

When he dressed for that one game I thought they might be showcasing him. I suspect they would willingly move him, probably just for a draft pick, but I am not sure anyone will want to offer anything worth bothering with. Still , extra D men are often sought after for teams expecting a long run so you never know. More likely JBot gets offers on McCabe or Scandella for that but the price may be low and not worth it for the optics.

Ya, i guess that you nailed it, cause I did. and he won more cups.

He's fast, and fast fits the system. Finally figuring out how to score and his effort is top notch every night. Definitely a guy you want to keep around, even if on a good team he drops down to the 4th line, he'd still be valuable.

Ya, apparently there's goaltending too :)

If he actually said this and I was JBot I'd move him to the top of my must be traded away list. Reminds me of when Jim Kelly turned on his O line way back when. You simply do not put the blame on others publicly (even if it's true). That's not leadership. That is not what leaders do.

optimistic

I have a feeling this game will define this season. As in, much better than last year, faster than last year, fun to watch, don't quit when down, you can feel it is oh so close, but it isn't quite there yet. Still, such a vast change from last year I am optimistic for the future.

Skinner's one on one goal against carolina is a perfect illustration of my point. Reinhart can tap them in when they get to the front of the net and his shot from outside is okay but I have NEVER seen him fight through a guy one on one from outside the slot and out maneuver a guy and simply drive past a defender like that. Skinner is by far a much better player and much much much more valuable to this, or any team.

Myself, I just want to see him use his 4th gear more often. To me, he's always had the hockey smarts and he knows what to do, but sometimes he doesn't give it. He will get in front of the net but other times he will throw a puck away to avoid pending contact. He lets Eichel do the heavy lifting too often and just waits. if he showed more desire and drove through players more often like Skinner tries to do we wouldn't have conversations about him, he'd be genuine elite.

So, stop no look passing then? :) This is as close to a playoff game as we've gotten in years so we have to play playoff hockey. Let's see if they can.

The games I've seen him play he is calm and focused, quiet and serious. Playing really well. Trots is defense and rebound control focused so that helps him, but it's mostly Lehner just playing well. Faced the music, sobered up, woke up, whatever, we were not the only team to think he was trouble to be avoided. Islanders rolled the dice and won. Lucky, but maybe they deserved that after Tavares screwed them.

Exactly. 18 & 24. You can't (or at least shouldn't) measure them the same. Cut the kid some slack and be awed by his brilliance, that's all I'm asking for.

obviously, but you have to evaluate each administration seperately. we are in year 2. A lot of things came together for that bunch at the same time. They have been futile for a really long time. I think Murray's era here does rival the Ballard era there in terms of worst ever and if JBot fails maybe you can compare the Pegula era to the Ballard, but not yet. Bills are irrelevant to this.

and Pilut chased a guy up the boards leaving the front of the net wide open so what? @18, Dahlin showed signs of absolute brilliance tonight and anyone who doesn't recognize that simply doesn't understand hockey and is just a critic rather than a fan. In his third season he will be an allstar and in his fourth he will be best D man in the league, mark my words.

yes we do, but if you get great goaltending, you forgive them.

Reinhart's best game of the season (so far). I thought the best combo of the night was when he was with Casey. So maybe we have the starting point for 2 top lines that are both 2/3 there. Add a couple wingers in some way and we have a pretty good team all of a sudden. Where are the Dahlin critics tonight I wonder? :)

I personally don't want to hear about the leafs. Still hate them and always will. Not the Sabres fault Tavares didn't have Sabres bed sheets Not the Sabres fault they won the lottery with their first (and thus only) intentional tank. Can only hope the big contracts (matthews today) will sink them and hope Tampa takes them out this year and then the Muzzin deal will be an asset loss. Still think their GM looks like Rachel Maddow.

That's true. I was hoping for that. I know I didn't watch them. My hope is that its over now.

Don't like the proposed line combinations myself. Being a one line team clearly a problem but Phil seems set on his idea of rolling all 4 lines all the time and things are spread out too much here to the point I can see none of the lines working. Myself, I would never break up Skinner/Eichel. I'd be trying to build them into a dynamic duo.